Did a "confidential source" find more than 250 million "humanoid aliens" living on the moon? No, that's not true: NASA told Lead Stories they have not yet found any sound evidence of extraterrestrial life. The key word "humanoid" implies that these aliens are similar to humans. Since humans can't survive on the moon, "humanoid aliens" would also not be able to survive on the moon.
The claim appeared on Facebook on February 6, 2023. The caption of the post read:
A confidential source claims that the moon is a habitable place and that it is inhabited by more than 250 million humanoid aliens.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Tue Mar 7 15:37:45 2023 UTC)
The pictures seen in this Facebook post are overhead photos of one building. Half of one photo is labeled as Area 51 and the other half as Groom Lake. Both these locations are in southern Nevada, not the moon. The poster doesn't identify the other photos.
A reverse image search of the triangular building shows that this is a talking point for Area 51 conspiracy theorists.
According to a March 7, 2023, email from NASA, while they are looking for other signs of life, they have yet to come across any:
One of NASA's key goals is the search for life in the universe. To date, NASA has yet to find any credible evidence of extraterrestrial life. NASA has long been exploring the solar system and beyond to help us answer fundamental questions, including whether we are alone in the universe. The agency's astrobiology program focuses on the origins, evolution, and distribution of life beyond Earth. From studying water on Mars, probing promising 'oceans worlds,' such as Titan and Europa, to looking for biosignatures in the atmospheres of our cosmic neighborhood and planets outside our solar system, NASA's science missions are working together with a goal to find unmistakable signs of life beyond Earth.
NASA defines a habitable planet as one that "can sustain life for a significant period." The requirements for life, as laid out by NASA, is "liquid water, energy, and nutrients." In 2020, NASA found water on the sunlit surface of the moon. They detected small concentrations of water molecules, around the size of a 12-ounce water bottle, within a cubic meter of soil across the moon's surface. However, life cannot be sustained on water molecules alone.
More Lead Stories fact checks about aliens can be found here, here and here.
